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Books > Language & Literature > Language & linguistics > General
Modal verbs in English communicate delicate shades of meaning,
there being a large range of verbs both on the necessity side
(must, have to, should, ought to, need, need to) and the
possibility side (can, may, could, might, be able to). They
therefore constitute excellent test ground to apply and compare
different methodologies that can lay bare the factors that drive
the speaker’s choice of modal verb. This book is not merely
concerned with a purely grammatical description of the use of modal
verbs, but aims at advancing our understanding of lexical and
grammatical units in general and of linguistic methodologies to
explore these. It thus involves a genuine effort to compare, assess
and combine a variety of approaches. It complements the leading
descriptive qualitative work on modal verbs by testing a diverse
range of quantitative methods, while not ignoring qualitative
issues pertaining to the semantics-pragmatics interface. Starting
from a critical assessment of what constitutes the meaning of modal
verbs, different types of empirical studies (usage-based,
data-driven and experimental), drawing considerably on the same
data sets, shows how method triangulation can contribute to an
enhanced understanding. Due attention is also given to individual
variation as well as the degree to which modals can predict L2
proficiency level.
In this first book-length treatment of MELF, the authors assert
that MELF represents an important contribution to our understanding
of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), in that existing ELF research
has been limited to relatively low stakes communicative situations,
such as interactions in business, academia, internet blogging or
casual conversations. Medical contexts, in contrast, often
represent situations calling for exceptional communicative
precision and urgency. Providing both evidence from their own
research and analysis from (the limited number of) existing
studies, the authors offer a counterpoint to the optimism regarding
communicative success prevalent in ELF. The book proposes a
theoretical perspective on how the various features of healthcare
communication serve as important variables in shaping interaction
among speakers of ELF, further enlarging our understanding of this
emerging sub-field.
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